Work Text:
The case had gone to hell pretty fast. Billy Harrison, a network engineer in a large finance company, and his girlfriend, Emily Kukui, had been kidnapped two days before. There had been no ransom demands or any contact from the kidnappers.
Five-0 took the case right away, but after having no leads to work with, they were basically hoping for a miracle to turn the case around. That miracle came in the form of Emily rushing into traffic, asking for help. She was seriously injured, but managed to give some details about the place where she and Billy had been kept. An old house in the North Shore.
She had escaped after Billy had distracted the kidnapper, but she was forced to leave Billy behind.
Five-0 found the place where the couple had been kept, but by the time they got there, Billy had already been moved. They checked all of the properties related to Brian Mahelona, the owner of the house, and after a couple of hours of futile search, they finally found an old abandoned plantation that was owned by the extended family of Mahelona.
Steve and Danny took point, followed by Tani and Junior. Lou and a couple of SWAT guys would enter through the side, and the rest of HPD backup were waiting outside.
The scene they found inside the building would stick in Tani’s mind for a long time to come. Billy Harrison was clearly dead, and Mahelona was chopping off his body with an electric saw and dropping the parts into an oil drum.
Tani saw McGarrett order Mahelona to drop the saw and step away from the body, and she managed to keep her gun up and pointing it at the perp, until Steve and Danny had the man in cuffs. After that, she took a look around and needed to bolt.
She made it to a quiet place behind the building before she needed to stop and barf her guts out. She was also crying because, apparently, on top of being disgusted at the whole mess, she was proving to be totally unprepared for this job.
Someone came from behind her and handed her some tissues. “It’s ok. You’re ok,” Danny’s voice said gently, as he rubbed her back.
Tani took the tissues and cleaned herself up, straightening a bit. She couldn’t look at Danny in the eye, but made an effort to pull herself together. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stay there.”
Danny nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it happens to the best of us from time to time,” he said with a shrug. “We should get you some water,” he said, motioning for them to move to the cars.
Danny tried to convince her to sit inside Lou’s SUV, but Tani needed some fresh air, and she didn’t want to feel trapped, so she just leaned against the car while Danny found her some water. It took her a couple of minutes to notice that Danny had been really quiet through the whole thing.
Danny came back with a bottle of water and handed it to Tani. He stood next to her but seemed to fidget nervously from time to time.
They stood quietly for a few minutes, but finally Tani couldn’t take the quiet anymore. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I guess I wasn’t ready to see something like that,” she said quietly.
“Nobody is,” Danny bit out, not looking at Tani. “Don’t worry about it,” he said without much enthusiasm.
Tani was shaking her head. “What kind of person would do something like that?” She asked, not really expecting an answer.
Danny seemed to swallow with difficulty. “A monster,” he said quietly.
Tani looked up at Danny’s response, and for the first time she noticed how tense he was. He was standing straight; looking fixedly at the floor with his arms crossed tightly, almost hugging himself. It looked like he was consciously stopping himself from moving, and even his breath seemed off, like he was making an effort to keep it steady.
Tani was about to ask him if he was okay when McGarrett showed up.
“Hey, how are we doing?” he asked, barely looking at Tani and putting his full attention on Danny.
Danny looked up with a glare, his ‘how do you think?’ evident even if he didn’t say a word.
Before Tani could say anything, Captain Grover and Junior came closer.
“Duke’s taking over the crime scene, so we can get outta here. Dr. Cunha and the guys from the Crime Lab are on the way too,” he said as he took off his vest and opened the SUV to put away his rifle.
Danny almost jumped at Grover’s words. “No. Don’t let Eric go in there!” He said forcefully, and started to move past McGarrett.
McGarrett took a hold of his arm, stopping him. “It’s already taken care of, buddy. We specifically asked them to send someone else,” he said gently.
Danny pulled away, glaring at McGarrett. “Why are you talking like that, huh? I’m fine, okay?”
It was becoming apparent that Danny was not anywhere near fine, but Tani couldn’t figure out why.
They watched as McGarrett gave Danny some space. “I know you are, buddy. We are just going back to HQ, we don’t need to be here anymore,” he said, continuing to talk to Danny in a very gentle tone.
Danny nodded in agreement, starting to move towards the car, but stopped halfway there. “We should stay here, we were the first ones in,” he said a bit more calmly.
McGarrett shook his head. “Duke’s got it handled. There’s not much else we can do here,” he said, hesitating to continue. “And I don’t want you to go back in there.”
Danny glared at McGarrett again. “That’s stupid, I know he’s not- I know that’s not him,” he said, his voice breaking a bit at the end.
“I know that, buddy. But you don’t need to see that,” McGarrett said, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder and trying to guide him back to the car.
Danny seemed to shudder from head to toe and leaned closer to McGarrett. “This fucking sucks,” he said shakily.
“I know, buddy,” McGarrett said. As he walked Danny to the car, he turned to give Grover a look, which apparently he understood.
“I’ll send her your way when she gets here,” Grover replied loudly. Then he turned to look at Tani, who was still trying to understand what was going on with Danny. “Alright kid. You can wait in my car for a while. I’ll just take care of a couple of things and we’ll be on our way.”
Tani was shaking her head. “I’m alright. I can go back to work.”
Grover gave her an unimpressed look. “Sister, I’ve been on the force before you were even born, and I am not alright with what happened in there! You are taking some time to regroup, process and then when you’re well and good you can get back on that proverbial horse. There’s no shame in being human from time to time,” he said gently, as he unlocked his SUV and left the door open for Tani to get in.
Tani looked at Junior for support, but he was shaking his head even before Tani spoke. “Commander McGarrett’s orders were clear. We are to stay out of the crime scene. Sergeant Lukela is taking over and,” he hesitated a bit, “I’m to keep an eye on you while he looks after Detective Williams.”
Tani turned to look over to where Steve and Danny were, but she couldn’t see much with the passenger door of the Camaro blocking her view. She could just make out Danny’s feet on the floor and McGarrett crouched by the side. Just then the medical examiner’s van pulled up next to Grover’s car and Noelani got out. “Hey guys,” she greeted, looking around. “The DB is in there, right?” she asked.
Junior nodded, but Grover intercepted Noelani before she started taking the stretcher out of the van. “Doc, I think you need to check on a live one first,” he said, pulling her away to quietly explain the situation. Noelani looked in the direction of the Camaro, moved to the other side of the van to pick a bag and moved to where Danny and Steve were sitting.
Tani resigned herself to wait in Grover’s car. Junior peeked in every few minutes to check on her, and Grover was off doing god knows what, so there was not much for Tani to do other than drinking her water. It was about half an hour later that they heard the Camaro’s engine and Tani saw the black car driving away.
Noelani peeked into the SUV, looking for Tani. “Hey! Captain Grover said that you were not feeling great?”
Tani shrugged, looking embarrassed. “It’s nothing. I just made a fool out of myself out there.”
Noelani reached out to squeeze Tani’s hand. “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t. It is an awful crime scene. It’s understandable to react to it,” she said kindly.
“Well, I still feel ridiculous,” Tani said with a sigh.
Noelani smiled in understanding. “Are you still feeling queasy? Any other symptoms?”
Tani shook her head. “Nah, I was mostly fine after I puked,” she said with a shrug. She looked at where the Camaro had been parked, and couldn’t keep her curiosity any longer. “What about Danny? I’m pretty sure this wasn’t his first rodeo, so what happened to him?” She asked.
Noelani’s face fell. “Well, did you know that Detective Williams’ brother was killed a couple of years ago?”
Tani’s stomach dropped and she numbly shook her head, dreading what Noelani would say next.
“I believe that Doctor Bergman had more details, but it seems that the body of Detective Williams’ brother was disposed in a very similar fashion to this crime scene. It’s only natural that he would be affected by the sight,” Noelani said with a pained expression.
The thought of Koa being killed and stuffed into an oil drum like their victim made tears rush to Tani’s eyes. She rushed out of the SUV and puked again, with Noelani holding her hair and patting her back. Five minutes later, Junior was driving her home, and she cried the whole way. The thought of losing her brother like that, was too much for her to handle.
Danny woke up around noon. He was groggy and confused, but finally figured out that someone was knocking on his door, and that was what had woken him. He stumbled out of bed, threw some sweats on and moved to the door.
“I’m comin’, don’t get your panties in a bunch!” he grumbled as he opened the door. He was surprised to find Tani, looking nervous and pale. “Hey, you ok? Come in, come in,” he said, moving aside to let her enter.
Tani’s eyes widened at the sight of Danny and she started backing away. “Oh no! I’m sorry! I’m so stupid, of course you’d be sleeping! I can come back later, or better yet, not come back at all!”
Danny shook his head, waving her in. “Hey, you’re here already, and I should be up anyway. Come on, have breakfast, or lunch or whatever with me. Don’t make me stand here like a schmuck, come in already.”
Tani finally came in, looking around nervously.
Danny closed the door behind her and moved to the kitchen. “Come on, you want some coffee? I need a coffee, and maybe some food,” he said turning on the coffee machine. At Tani’s nod he picked up two mugs, left them on the counter and moved to the fridge, taking out some things to make sandwiches.
He motioned for Tani to get comfortable as he got everything ready. Since she wasn’t saying anything, Danny gave her a nudge. “So, Steve made you stay at home for the day as well?”
Tani looked a bit like a deer in headlights, but recovered soon enough. “Yeah, he said that you’d be taking the rest of the week off, so there was no rush for me to come back until I was ready,” she said with a shrug.
Danny snorted, shaking his head. “Of course he did.”
“You’re not taking the rest of the week?” Tani asked confused.
Danny sighed, moving to pour the coffee into the mugs. “I probably would’ve gone today, if whatever they gave me yesterday hadn’t made me sleep until noon. I’ll see if I can go back tomorrow, just to see his constipated face,” he said with a small smile. “You on the other hand, should take some time if you need it. There’s nothing wrong about reacting to that sort of stuff. It’s when you stop reacting to it that you should start to worry,” he said kindly.
Tani sat quietly, lost in her own thoughts. “That’s not why I’m here, you know? Or, it’s not the whole reason,” she said, fidgeting in her seat.
Danny waited her out, busying himself with making the sandwiches and drinking his coffee.
Finally, Tani continued talking. “It’s just that, Noelani? She told me about your brother.” She noticed Danny tensing, but he didn’t interrupt her so she rushed along. “And yes, what happened yesterday was terrible and awful, but I kept thinking that I acted like a baby and that you had to take care of me while you were—” she cut herself off, but she couldn’t stop herself from crying. “I just wanted to apologize. I never meant to make things worse for you,” she said with a sob. “Damn it, it wasn’t supposed to go like this,” she said, covering her face.
Danny left everything on the counter and moved to hug Tani. “Hey, hey. It’s okay,” he said gently, rubbing her back and giving her some time to get herself together. “You did nothing wrong, and it helped, in a way, to have to care for someone else. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have stayed in there, trying to tough it up, or Steve would have had to drag me out of there, and it would have been a whole different mess,” he said, trying to make light of the situation.
Tani pulled away, reaching for some paper towels that Danny had on the counter. “It’s just. I kept thinking about Koa, and about someone doing that to him, and I’d die if that happened, you know?”
Tani realized she’d said the wrong thing when Danny’s face crumpled a bit and he looked away. “Shit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come here. I keep fucking things up,” she said, covering her face again.
Danny chuckled wetly, reaching for some paper towels himself. “No, you’re right, it sucks. I don’t recommend it,” he said with a shrug.
Tani, looked at Danny with a pained expression. “I’m sorry. Yesterday I didn’t even know you had a brother. Would you tell me about him?”
Danny sighed, and stood up abruptly. “Alright, but we’re going to need the good stuff for this,” he said as he moved to the fridge, taking out a tub of ice cream. At Tani’s surprised look, he shrugged. “It’s either this or scotch, and it’s too early to get drunk and mopey,” he said, moving to the living room.
Once they settled on the couch, each one with a spoon, the tub of ice cream between them and a bunch of napkins on the coffee table, Danny started talking. “Ok, Matt was an asshole,” he said with a sad smile. “He was one of those people that you liked instantly. He was charming, could get away with almost anything, about a foot taller than me, and he just knew how to get a smile out of you even in your crappiest day,” he said with a sniff. “He was smart too, it’s what got him through college and into that fancy job in New York.”
Danny went quiet for a minute, looking down at nothing in particular. “He was my best friend, and I miss him,” he choked, reaching for a napkin to wipe some tears and blow his nose. “And I’m so fucking angry at him sometimes, he was so damn stupid,” he said, shaking his head sadly.
Tani reached out and took his hand. A part of her wanted to know how he had ended up killed in such a horrible way, but she knew she wouldn’t like what she would hear.
Danny continued talking, needing to tell the whole story. “He got into trouble at work. Lost millions of dollars, and tried to hide it. Then when that didn’t work out, he started doing business with a drug cartel, hoping to recover the money he’d lost. The FBI was onto him, and they were going to arrest him here, when he came to visit,” he stopped, needing a minute before he could continue.
“I told him about the FBI, and I thought I’d convinced him to turn himself in and try to get a deal back home, but he had other plans. I found him before he got on a plane, tried to convince him to stay, but he didn’t listen”, he said sadly. “I could have stopped him, shot him in the leg, or find a way to stop the plane, but I didn’t. I let him go.” He was quiet for a minute, studying the napkin in his hand. “Four years later the cartel caught up with him, and I guess you know the rest,” Danny finished with a tired sigh.
Tani squeezed his hand, trying to provide some comfort. She knew nothing she could say would make things better, but she needed him to know that he wasn’t the only one that had been in such a situation before. “My brother used to hang out with some drug dealers. Last year, I got a tip that they were busting one of their houses, and I knew Koa would be there, so I drove there and I got him out before HPD got there. About a month after that, he overdosed,” she said sadly.
Danny’s eyes widened and it was his turn to provide comfort to Tani. “Shit, is he alright?”
Tani nodded. “Yeah, he’s still in rehab, and I think he got scared enough to not do that again. The thing is, sometimes, no matter how hard we try to protect them, they find a way to mess things up even worse than what we feared in the first place. And we have to find a way not to blame ourselves for that,” she said with a shrug.
Danny chuckled wetly, pulling Tani into a hug. “You’re right, babe. It’s a work in progress though.”
Tani chuckled as well, patting Danny’s back. “Yeah. Still, it’s nice to know you’re not the only one with sibling trouble,” she said with a sigh.
“That it is,” Danny agreed, pulling away. “Next time I get into an argument with Bri or Stell, I’m calling you for backup, and if that moron of a brother starts giving you trouble again, give me a call, we can get Duke to give him a scare that doesn’t require a hospital stay.” He said with a smile, reaching for the ice-cream again and offering it for her to take a scoop.
“Will do,” Tani replied around a mouthful of ice cream.
After a couple of minutes eating in silence, Danny looked at her seriously. “Thank you for coming over. It sucks when you get a reminder of what happened, but it’s much better to be with people that care when it happens.”
“Right back at you,” said Tani. “Just let’s try to keep the puking to a minimum.”
Danny chuckled. “Agreed!” he said with a nod.
The End